News RSS Feed Send your news, pictures & videos


Protesters want end to animals in circus

2:20pm Tuesday 27th July 2010 in News By James Calnan

Animal rights – campaigners want animals banned from circuses Animal rights – campaigners want animals banned from circuses

PROTESTERS set up outside a circus visiting Colchester to voice their opposition to using animals.

The 25-strong protest marked the Great British Circus’s final performance in London Road, Stanway, following a week-long stay.

The protesters waved brightly coloured placards with calls to “Honk Against Animal Circuses” and “Stop Animal Suffering”.

Campaigner Jane Williams, from Holland-on-Sea, said those attending the protest were all opposed to the use of animals in circuses.

She said: “This is one of the only circuses that uses animals. I think it’s absolutely appalling.

“The animals aren’t volunteers. They’re confined for anything up to 23 hours a day. They’re on the road for up to ten months a year and it’s utter cruelty.

“The tigers live in the confines of 2.5m by 2m. They can just about do three paces and then turn around.

“It’s a prison.”

The circus moves to Clacton Airfield in West Road with a series of performances starting tonight and ending on Sunday, August 8.

Mrs Williams said she was planning further protests tonight, this Sunday and on the last day as well. She added: “They shouldn’t have animals in circuses any more.

“They need to be banished to the history books.”

Last year the circus hit the headlines after it sacked an assistant keeper for beating an elephant.

But it insists the animals are well looked after and point out traditional big top performanses are part of the nation’s cultural heritage.

No one from the circus was available for comment.

Comments(13)

silly things says...
2:50pm Tue 27 Jul 10

there are signs about saying that its cancelled, they dont look like very professional signs though....

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Voter99 says...
2:59pm Tue 27 Jul 10

If this lot are so worried about animal welfare I saw a field near Crockleford Heath covered in ragworth with horses crazing in it.
.
Ragworth is a dangerous plant that can cause liver damage to horses if they eat it.
.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

bennyontheterrace says...
8:08pm Tue 27 Jul 10

"The 25 strong protest".. remind me again how many people live in Colchester.... so not really a strong protest, just afew board house wives who have nothing better to do...

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Mr Anory. Jack says...
12:22am Wed 28 Jul 10

silly things wrote:
there are signs about saying that its cancelled, they dont look like very professional signs though....
Not very big are they silly things, saw one tonight on tescos roundabout advert, strangely enough, now more on the adverts going into clacton though.
Not a very good protest is it.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Mr Anory. Jack says...
12:24am Wed 28 Jul 10

oooops,
"now more"
typo, should read
NO MORE on the adverts.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

silly things says...
2:36pm Wed 28 Jul 10

the one's i saw yesterday have been taken off. It was pretty obvious that the circus hadn't put them on, because if the circus had been cancelled then it wouldn't be at the airfield and the gazette wouldnt have said about there shows all week in this article.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

corporate says...
4:41pm Wed 28 Jul 10

I remember Brightlingsea, and the terror caused to animals by screaming protestors, who were - um - protesting about the treatment of animals. I wonder if many of the so-called protestors actually know why they're protesting, or whether (like Brightlingsea) they just stumbled into a bandwagon in order to create mayhem and as much disturbance as possible - whatever the alleged reasons for the placard-waving. Clearly, there are animals out there which are treated badly, and no-one sees the same people protesting. Come on, circus haters, why aren't you at the battery chicken farm gates, the horse racing events, the fly-swatting homes, the abattoirs...?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

JReynolds says...
4:58pm Wed 28 Jul 10

Good on them, it's hard to believe this country still allows animals who should be in their natural environment to be treated in this way.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Catherine Ryal says...
10:40pm Wed 28 Jul 10

Nothing but admiration for the protesters outside this circus. It's good to see that some people are still willing to stand up for what they believe in. Here's hoping this is the last year for this ghastly circus!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

corporate says...
10:56pm Wed 28 Jul 10

I too have nothing but admiration for the protestors: willing to stand there in torrential rain for hours, achieving little, except advertising the presence of something fairly 'naughty' and entertaining, that, without a headline in the local paper, would have passed many people by - I recall the BBC-banned songs of the Sixties always reached Number One. As for 'standing up for what they believe in...' - well, hopefully we shall see them at battery farms, as well as becoming vegetarians. Otherwise, they would be hypocrites, of course. See all nine of you there tomorrow, eh?

Meanwhile, my two grandkids have just read this and are really excited to see 'real protestors', and a visit to the 'aminal circus' (sic) afterwards. Seems bad publicity is still publicity, so carry on protesting, folks!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

corporate says...
9:46pm Thu 29 Jul 10

As an afterthought, I note one placard reads: 'Honk against animal circuses...'. Does the 'protestor' not realise such noises can frighten animals? And as sounding car horns is a form of fun, does this not conflict with another placard which states: 'Your fun is their misery...'? Would the real animal lover(s) here please step forward?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

BigCatRescue says...
4:27pm Fri 30 Jul 10

Many thanks to the protesters for doing the right thing and standing up for performing animals. Elephants, big cats and other animals in circuses suffer. Displaying big cats in unnatural situations like the circus and other exhibits does not educate the public about the plight of cats in the wild, nor does it help conserve their habitat in the wild. Cats in circuses travel in tiny, barren cages, and are often exposed to extreme temperatures with little protection. They are often beaten and coerced to perform through fear of abuse. They are forced to perform acts that are unnatural, confusing, and often painful for them. When they can no longer perform, they are discarded, killed, or sent to canned hunts. Please don’t support circuses that use animals. http://www.bigcatres
cue.org/circustigers
.htm

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

corporate says...
10:32pm Fri 30 Jul 10

Au contraire, BigCatRescue: my kids and their friends are now researching big cats (and other animals) on the 'Net, all due to the circus being in town. Helped by their parents, natch. They also take note (now) of the advert on TV which calls for donations to support endangered species, and talk frenziedly (they could become protestors in future) of visiting the zoo. Now, this is all due to the publicity generated by the protestors and the circus, and would not have happened without either - not at this moment in time anyway, to paraphrase Whitney Houston. And this talk of 'often beaten' (etc) is subjective. Objectively, animals are 'often looked after'.

Also, BigCatResscue didn't mention the Animal Welfare Act 2006, under which auspices any individual or group can take a prosecution. There are no documented cases (AFAI have researched) where an RSPCA inspector has been refused entry on request for inspection at a circus. In addition, local authorities have formal powers of entry and inspection, which they frequently use to inspect circuses. Where are the prosecutions, therefore, to back up cruelty claims?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

click2find

Most popular